


Spooks and Screams

by SaraJaye



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boey Scares Easily, Clinging, F/M, Genny's Wild Imagination, Ghost Stories, Nightmare Fuel, Storytelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 03:05:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: "You do this every time Genny tells her ghost stories, you could just leave if they bother you so much. She'd understand." And Boey just lets them believe it's his stubborn pride that makes him stay. They don't need to know therealreason.





	Spooks and Screams

"But when she turned around, the old man was gone, only a soft wisp of smoke where he once stood."

It's a cliché. It's overused, it's in every ghost story Genny tells, like she's addicted to disappearing old men turning into wisps of smoke. It's a shame because Genny's stories are usually really good if not for the one cliché she always relies on with every genre. Romances? The guy's always older than the girl. Action? The hero always risks his life for his friends. Ghost stories? Old men turning into smoke.

But Boey falls for the last one every time. He falls for all the scary story clichés, from the bats in the belfry to the skeletons popping out of closets. He's a huge wimp when it comes to the ghostly stuff, everyone knows it, and by now they're so used to it they don't even tease him anymore.

"She ventured further into the endless hallway," Genny continues, "trying not to make eye contact with the paintings along the walls or heed the rustling noises somewhere far away. But her heart grew heavier with every step, filling with a mixture of sorrow and regret as well as trepidation." There it is, the old Genny creativity, and Boey feels the heroine's dark emotions trying to soak into him.

When she finally describes a door opening to reveal the first dead body, he screams. They all do, but Boey screams as if _he_ were seeing the pale corpse draped across a chaise. He grabs hold of Mae, buries his face in her shoulder, and she hugs him tight. When he dares to look up, though, Kliff's rolling his eyes. Like he always does.

"It's just a story." Tobin shoves him, still wedged firmly under Gray's arm.

"You can let go of that stuffed tiger now." Kliff turns red, throws the tiger at Faye, and makes a face.

"But he _always_ does this. I know the stories are _supposed_ to scare us, but you do this every time Genny tells one of her ghost stories," he says. "You know you _could_ just leave if they bother you so much. She'd understand." Genny, who's stopped her narration, turns worriedly to him.

"He's got a point. You don't _have_ to stay just to spare my feelings."

"It's not like that!" Boey avoids everyone else's gaze, because he knows they're waiting for an explanation. So he goes with the only one that they'll buy, because they know him. And it's not like it's a _complete_ lie anyway. "I'm gonna grow up to be a man, right? Well, real men can handle a few ghost stories!" There. The old stubborn bravado excuse, and sure enough, everyone believes it.

"Men are allowed to be afraid of things," Alm says kindly. "Even my grandfather has his own fears. He won't tell me what they are, but he's got them."

"You don't have to pretend around us, Boey," Celica adds. Everyone else offers their own encouragements, except for Mae. He catches her eye, and she smirks at him, because she knows the truth. He hadn't meant her to, because he's the most stubborn when it comes to her. But she knows, because she can read him like a book.

"Thanks, guys. But I wanna overcome my fear in case I've gotta go to some haunted place one day, and this is the only way I will." 

So Genny resumes her story. Celica nestles close to Alm, Gray lies across Clair and Tobin's laps, and Faye and Kliff cuddle with the stuffed tiger. The story goes on, and Boey clings tight to Mae with every dead body, every rustle, every dead-eyed photo, every emotion. And every time, she lets him, a secret smug look in her eyes even as she screams along with the others.

Because deep down, Boey is the biggest cliché of them all, the guy who uses scary stuff as an excuse to get cozy with the girl he likes.

(He'll just ignore the fact that it's usually the girl who does the clinging in the movies.)


End file.
